CAMPAIGNERS are furious after the Government landed them with a £13,000 legal bill - even though a High Court judge sympathised with their situation.

They claim that John Prescott has claimed his 'miserable pound of flesh' despite spending billions of pounds elsewhere - not all of it wisely - after their battle against plans to build a gas plant in Mid Cheshire.

Cranage Parish Council, which teamed up with other councils across the county and thousands of local people to fight ScottishPower's plans for the massive £100m gas storage plant at Byley, must now find thousands of pounds to hand back to the Government following failed High Court action in December.

John Prescott and Patricia Hewitt last week announced that they would indeed be claiming their legal expenses against the parish council after it took the Government to the High Court to fight the Secretaries of States' decision to over-turn their own inspector.

Following a public inquiry, the inspector had ruled that ScottishPower's proposals should be rejected, but Mr Prescott and Mrs Hewitt cited a national need for the development.

Members of Residents Against the Plant, which backed the High Court action, only found out about the decision through the media and a furious John Halstead, chairman of RAP, said: 'It would have been nice to have heard directly from Prescott and co, rather than from journalists, but that's just bad

manners. Mainly we're fiercely critical of the sheer, staggering meanness of Government departments that spend billions of pounds - not all of it wisely - but want to take their miserable pound of flesh from a parish council backed by ordinary local people.

'We understand the Secretaries of State say there were 'no special circumstances' ruling against their claiming expense, but that's incomprehensible.

'The fight against the gas plant was conducted on behalf of tens of thousands of Cheshire people who were in fear for their homes. Are we to be punished for that?'

RAP says lawyers acting for the Secretaries of State and for Cranage Parish Council will now get involved to decide

whether or not the full extent of the £13,000 costs will have to be paid.

Mr Halstead added: 'We're confident in our lawyers and we look to them for some better and fairer treatment than we've had from John Prescott and Patricia Hewitt.'

Protesters said all along they were hopeful they will not be presented with the bill, but have set some money from the £33,000 RAP fighting fund aside just in case - now it looks as though they will have to tap into that money.

Last month, RAP said it was planning to launch a test case to secure a change in the law which allowed Mr Prescott and Mrs Hewitt to overturn the inspector's decision.

The law as it stands gives the Secretaries of State the option to overturn any planning decision - in this case, John Prescott and Patricia Hewitt cited national need for the gas plant as outweighing any public concern, and so overruled one of their own Government inspectors who had decided the application should be rejected.

Mr Halstead explained: 'Two borough councils recommended this for refusal, as did the county council twice, all the town and parish councils, 10,000 residents and a five-week public inquiry - then John Prescott overturned that.